Chapter One

Jack

Jack woke up to find various objects being thrown at the chopper. "Shit," muttered the pilot. "Now they're using rocks."
Soldiers yanked open the doors, causing the surviving Fielders to wake up in jolts. Reyna, who had been sleeping with her head in Scarlett's lap, bolted upright. "Come on, go, go, go!" shouted a soldier, pulling her out of the helicopter.
Jack jumped out after everyone else, and then turned back around. "WAIT WAIT WAIT!" he roared. "Kid, where are you going?" a soldier yelled at him. Jack fumbled around until he found what he was looking for—Ben's necklace.
"Come on, it's not safe out here!" roared the soldier, just as a shriek cut the air. "CRANKS! WE GOT CRANKS!"
Jack broke into a run as a figure was nailed in the head, killing it instantly. Ahead of him, he could spot Rupert. Suddenly, a scream came from behind him. Jack stopped and turned around. There was Drew, struggling with a Crank that had tackled her to the ground.
"NO, JUST LEAVE HER!" shouted the rest of the Fielders, who had all made it safely inside. Jack took a knife from his tool-belt, and then stabbed it into the Crank's back, killing it immediately. More shrieks came from the darkness, followed by various yelling and gunshot sounds. "Come on, come on!" Jack shouted, slinging Drew's arm over his shoulder; she was limping, the Crank had been holding a knife that had injured her in the attack.
They made it through the door just as it closed. Jack let Drew fall into Rupert's waiting arms. Scarlett rushed forwards, threw her arms around Jack, and pressed her lips against his, kissing him. Jack tasted tears—she had been crying. Then she pulled away. "Don't ever scare me like that again," she hissed, anger flashing in her eyes. "That was the Labyrinth all over again! Why'd you go back the first time, anyways?" she added, cupping Jack's face in her hands. Jack unclenched his fingers and revealed Ben's necklace. Scarlett nodded, then hugged him again, kissing him harder this time.
They broke apart, just as the others were grabbed by yet more soldiers and shunted into a room. Jess looked around, panicked. "What the hell is going on out there?" asked Rupert, panicking. "Nothing we can't handle," said the captain of the squad of soldiers, before sealing the door behind him.
"HEY!" George shouted, and he and Reyna pounded on the doors, yelling in panic. "LET US OUT!" Reyna shouted. Scarlett tapped them each on the shoulder. "I don't think that they can hear us," she said, and the two of them calmed down.
Suddenly, the lights flickered on. "Who the hell turned on the lights?" Jess asked, hugging herself. "They did, probably," Jack replied.
The group of survivors turned around and froze where they were. They saw a table of food and several couches and cushions farther back into the room. The Fielders all rushed forwards and started to shovel food into their mouths.

"DIBS ON THE RICE!" shouted Drew, grabbing the metal bowl of rice.
"Don't choke on your food, Papa Georgie!" Brooklyn snickered.
"Back at you, Mama Brook Brook," George teased.
"'Mama Brook Brook?'" spluttered Selena, sniggering.
"The rice!" Drew shouted, trying to shield her bowl from the chaos in front of her. "The rice! The rice!"
Finally, they all finished up and had their fill. They moved farther back into the room, each of them taking a seat on the couches or chairs or cushions that had been laid out for them. Jack, George, Drew, Scarlett, Reyna, Jess, Brooklyn, Selena, Harry, Fred, Zara, Max, Felix, Sammy, and Rupert—the sixteen surviving Fielders—got up, however ,when the door opened.
"Who the hell are you?" snapped Brooklyn, as the gray-haired man stared at them.
"My name is Janson," said the man. His eyes widened when he saw how many of them there were. "My, my, what a big group you are. A lot larger than the last one that came in, just a few hours ago."
Jack folded his arms. Scarlett, Brooklyn, and George did the same, standing directly behind him. "Why are you here?" asked Reyna, her hands gripping her spear. Janson's eyes widened when she saw Reyna. "They put someone as young as you into the Maze?" he asked, shaking his head.
"Why are you here?" repeated Reyna testily.
"I'm the reason you're all still alive," said Janson. "And it's my intention to keep you that way."
Jack and Jess exchanged worried looks. Jess's hair was now streaked with gray; how had Jack not noticed that.
"Come on," said Janson, beckoning for the ten Fielders to follow.
"I run this whole entire base of operations," said Janson, leading them through a room full of the sounds of buzz saws and mechanical objects. "Consider this a safe haven of sorts, a refuge away from the horrors of the Scorch and the Flare."

"That mean you're taking us home?" asked Brooklyn from behind George and Scarlett. "A home of sorts," replied Janson. Rupert and Drew muttered to one another; Reyna elbowed them. "Shut it, guys," she hissed. The other two fell silent.
"Of course, whatever homes you once had are now gone, you see," Janson said, stopping in front of a handle-less door. He swiped his ID card into the ID access keypad panel. The door slid open.
"Down these hallways are the start of your new lives," said Janson. "But first…let's do something about that smell. Boys, go down the left corridors. Girls, go down the right corridor."
The group shifted uncomfortably. Janson, sensing the reason behind their reluctance to follow his orders, sighed, folding his arms. "Look, you'll all be sent back together once you shower and clean yourselves up."
Scarlett took the first step forward. She kissed Jack quickly on the lips, and then started down the hallway. Next came Brooklyn, then Reyna, then Zara and Sammy, then Jess and Selena, and then, finally, Drew.
Jack and the remaining Fielders—Fred, Rupert, Harry, George, and Max—went down the second hallway.
Jack caught George staring wistfully after Selena. He bumped his friend's shoulder. "Got your eyes on Beauty Queen over there?" he asked, causing Janson to snort from behind him.

Jack frowned, and then sighed, entering one of the showers.

When Jack, George, Fred, Felix, Harry, Rupert, and Max left the room, they were sent into a room that was full of various scientists and doctors. Jack saw the girls waiting for them in front of a door. Jack frowned, seeing that Selena wasn't with them. He looked around for her, just as Janson called him into a meeting room.

"What do you remember about your time working for WCKD?" asked Janson.
Jack frowned.

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble," said Janson.
"I remember watching my friends die in front of me, one by one," Jack said slowly. "I remember that they told us lie after lie to get us to do what they wanted."

"Interesting," said Janson. "And whose side are you on?"

"I'm on my friends' side," he said.

"Well, that's all that I had to ask you two," Janson said. "You'll be cleared to join the others."
"Wait," Jack said, frowning. "Others?"

Scarlett

Scarlett didn't see Jack when she entered the crowded, busy cafeteria. She grabbed a tray of food and then moved to sit at a table. A boy was blocking her view. "Hey," he said in an oily sort of voice. "Want me to show you around?"
"Nah, I'm fine," Scarlett said, moving to go around him. He blocked her. "I can show you who's safe to sit by and who to avoid," the boy said.
"Sorry, I'm taken," Scarlett said. She spotted Jack entering behind the boy and waved her hand, gesturing to him. "Over here!" she shouted, and Jack's face brightened when he saw her. "Hey," said Jack, and Scarlett leaned in on tiptoe and kissed him.
Scarlett turned back around and looked at the boy, who was gaping, mouth open. "This shack annoying you?" Jack asked, folding his arms and flexing. "How do you do that without ripping your shirt?" Scarlett asked, squeezing Jack's arm affectionately. "It's a gift," said Jack, kissing the top of her head and laughing.
"I could take him," said Jack, smirking. The boy gulped, and then turned back around, moving towards the table at which he'd originally been sitting. Jack smirked at Scarlett, who shook her head, then led him to the table at which their friends were sitting.
Two boys were sitting there, and Scarlett watched as their eyes went wide when they saw Jack and Scarlett. "Looks like Beauty Queen and Muscle Man have finally arrived," Brooklyn said, popping a bit of bread into her mouth. George elbowed her, and Brooklyn rolled her eyes. "Is she gonna faint and have him catch her just to rub it in these guys' faces?" George snickered.
"You two may be annoying," said Scarlett affectionately, "but you'll always be Papa Georgie and Mama Brook Brook to me."
The taller boy snorted, choking on his water. Scarlett took one bite of the food and then spit it back out. "Drew, come over here for a second," she said. Drew looked confused, but then realization came across her face as Scarlett stood up and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "YES!" Drew said, pumping her hand in the air. The other Fielders, minus Jack and Selena, were looking pretty amused. "I KNEW she'd have to kiss the cook eventually!"
"What's going on?" asked Jack, frowning and flexing his folded arms. "Drew and I had this thing going on, back in the Field, that I would have to kiss the cook if I found food better than hers. I never thought that it would happen, but here we are!"
"Oh, are we getting free kisses now?" asked one of the boys. He stood up and leaned forwards. Quicker than lightning, Brooklyn, Reyna, Sammy, Zara, Drew, Scarlett, and Jess all picked up their knives and forks and pointed them at the boy menacingly.
"Seriously?" his friend asked. "These people are gonna be sharing our dorm room! Don't treat the girls like their personal property!"
"Because we aren't," Jess said angrily. The second boy was looking frightened, impressed, and abashed at the same time. "Plus, every one of those girls look like they could beat you up in a fight in less than two seconds!" his friend added.

Jack smirked at the look on Jess's face. "Jess, little sister, put down the fork. Same goes for the rest of you."
"You're the first coed group that's come in here, actually," said the first boy, trying to change the subject. "So we all didn't know what to think when a group of both boys and girls came in. That kid over there, he's been here the longest." He jutted his chin out at a kid in a gray hoodie. The kid was dirty-blonde and was chatting with a girl that was also at his table. "His group was coed, too, actually. I just didn't remember. Oh, the name's Sam, by the way," said the boy. "This bloody prat here is Chad. He's not usually that stupid."
"How long has that kid been here?" asked Jack. "Almost a week," said Chad, recovering from his shock at the sudden turn of events from a few minutes ago. Jack frowned. "How big was his group?" he asked.
"Only six or seven people came," said Chad. "As you can see, only two of them are left in there now."
Suddenly, Janson stopped calling out names. Scarlett hadn't realized that he had been talking before, but now she did. He led the group of about seven or eight teenagers, mixed boys and girls, out the door. Suddenly, Jack got up. He had spotted Selena. "Selena!" he said. "Hey, Selena!"
The guard stopped him, and said something to him. Jack responded with a question; Scarlett could tell by the tone of the dull murmur of his voice that she heard from over here. The soldier simply shrugged, and then answered shortly, turning Jack around and pushing him back towards his friends.

Chad and Sam both frowned. "What's he doing?" asked Chad. "I dunno, he saw a friend and got up and left," said George. Suddenly, Janson had returned back to the room. He was followed by a squad of at least sixteen armed soldiers. The soldiers all split up, and then started to round up the groups of kids. Scarlett saw the blonde kid in the hoodie and met his eyes. He seemed to be trying to tell her something, but she wasn't sure just what it was, though.
"Come on, you lot," said a soldier in a British accent, just like George and Zara's. Harry and Felix looked at each other, talking in dull whispers, and then got up, following George and Rupert. Jack hesitated, but then his sister leaned over and whispered something into his ear, and the two of them got up and followed their friends. Zara, Brooklyn, Reyna, and Sammy all got up and followed them next. Next went Drew and Fred, as well as Max and Scarlett. Scarlett cast a last glance at the boy and the girl who he was with, and then sighed, not knowing what he was trying to tell her.

The kids were sent to a larger dormitory that they had seen the other groups of kids being put into. The seventeen of them—fifteen Fielders and two newcomers—began to claim bunks. Drew and Rupert chose the same bunk, with Rupert on top and Drew on bottom. Jack lingered by the doorway, and Max shot him a worried look, then turned towards Scarlett. Back in the Field, Scarlett and Max had been kind of like Jack's support group, the two who helped him when things were going wrong.

Jack sighed, leaning against the wall. Scarlett saw a set of spare clothes and grabbed a T-shirt and some clean blue jeans. "I'm gonna go and take a shower," she said.
Jack exited the bathroom, muttering something about the smell, but when Scarlett entered, it was clean-scented.
Scarlett spent about ten minutes in the shower, and then got out. When she just put on her sports bra, Jack knocked and entered.
"You decent?" he asked, and Scarlett smirked, rolling her eyes at her boyfriend.
"Decent enough," said Scarlett. Jack nodded, uncovering his eyes. When he closed the door behind him, Scarlett saw that he was wearing just his bottom half of clothes. His shirt was gone.
"It had some food on it that I didn't think looked good on me," Jack explained, seeing Scarlett's gaze.
When Jack had first come into the Field, there had been murmurs about how much he had been taken with Scarlett's beauty. And that had proved to be true. But there were no murmurs about how much Scarlett had been taken with Jack's looks.

God, he is ripped. Is that a scar in the center of his chest? Oh, no, he probably thinks I'm staring at his nipples. Am I staring at his nipples?
Jack sighed, then leaned over into the sink and began to rinse some sand out of his hair. Scarlett was still eyeing him out of the corner of her eye. Jack shifted, his muscles rippling as he did so.
Scarlett felt a blush creep up the side of her face, and she quickly closed her mouth before she started to drool.

"Like what you see, shack?" Jack asked, smirking. Scarlett didn't know when the boy had stepped away from the sink, but now he was right in front of her, a smirk dancing across his lips like the sun across the water of the lake back in the field. His arms were crossed, and he seemed to be flexing without even trying.

God, those lips look so kissable. And that smirk of his, too…ANY girl would fall for him.

Scarlett's eyestraveled from Jack's face downwards. They moved down his chest, stopping at the long, jagged slash mark that ran along the center of his chest, kissing his neck and just barely grazing his collarbone.
"What happened?" Scarlett asked, her voice quiet. She slowly reached up and put a hand on the scar, tracing it up and down. Jack closed his eyes, and he seemed to be building up courage to say what he was about to. He reached up and placed his hand over hers, stopping it from moving.
"I don't know," he whispered.
Scarlett looked up into his mismatched eyes, the eyes that she'd fallen for ever since she'd seen them, the eyes that she would follow anywhere, to the ends of the earth and back if she had to. "Maybe a Griever did this when you were making them," Scarlett said. Jack frowned, massaging his and Scarlett's hands over the scar on his chest.
"Jack—!" Scarlett began.

And then they were kissing. Scarlett felt Jack walking her back up into the wall; she murmured, stroking his cheekbone as she kissed him. And then the beautiful, sweet moment was broken when George banged on the door, yelling, "All right, lovebirds! Come back out here!"
Jack and Scarlett broke apart. They stared at each other for a split second, and then began to grin. Jack removed his hands from their place around Scarlett's face, and Scarlett unhooked her arms from around Jack's waist.

When they opened the door, George and Jess looked a bit red in the face. "There are others who have to take a shower, too, you know."
Scarlett rolled her eyes, walking out. The boys gaped at her; the girls merely sighed, rolling their eyes. Suddenly, Scarlett remembered she had no shirt on, only her sports bra. She began to cover herself, but Jack tossed her a shirt, saying, "Thought you might forget," and smirking slightly.

Scarlett kissed him affectionately. Chad and Sam were looking from the shirtless pair to Drew and Rupert. Jack spotted George looking a bit sullen, and he nudged Scarlett. "He's got a crush on Selena," he said, and Scarlett gasped. "Our George?" she asked, shocked. "And our Selena?"
"I can't wait to see what happens when Reyna admits to liking someone," Jack said, kissing Scarlett's forehead and snickering slightly. Scarlett drew him close to her. "I've suspected that she's had a crush on Fred for some time now, ever since he came up in the Cage," she said quietly, smirking.
George suddenly got up and started talking. "All right, everyone. Lights out! Let's go, chop chop!" he said, clapping his hands. Chad looked at him incredulously.
"Since when have you been in charge, you junk-faced shack?" Zara muttered, but the other sixteen teenagers got into bed and remained silent all the time.

The next morning, Jack had had some sort of adventure with some kid named Call.
"Who the hell is Call?" asked Reyna, frowning.
"Him," Jack said, nodding over at the table where the blonde boy in the hoodie and the blue-haired girl with the fair skin and the freckles were sitting. The girl, too, wore a gray hoodie. "He showed me something. This place, it's not what these people claim that it is."
"Well, until we find more evidence," Chad said, frowning. "Let's just keep our heads down and try not to cause a commotion."
Jack met Call's eyes. Call and Jack seemed to exchange an hour-long conversation within a split-second glance. Jack slammed his hands onto the table and got up. Reyna, hesitated, looked over at Fred, who nodded, and then moved forwards, following him.
There was a commotion seconds later, one that the Fielders, Chad, and Sam had to break up by rushing over there and holding Jack, Fred, and Reyna back. Call was watching them, as was the blue-haired girl.
"Jackson," said Janson, rushing back into the room. "What's going on here, huh?" He looked from the soldiers to the Fielders, who were still restraining Reyna, who was still putting up quite a fight. "I thought we could trust each other!"
"Yeah, well…" Fred trailed off, looking over at Jack. Fred had accompanied Jack on his late-night excursion, and so he, too, knew what was going on. "I guess not," he finished, clenching his hands.
Janson thought for a bit, and then sighed. "Get these kids into their bunks."
Jack, Scarlett, Fred, Reyna, Chad, and the rest of their group were shoved rather unceremoniously back into their dormitory.
"What the bloody effing hell was that about?" Zara demanded, getting all up into Jack's face. "You didn't seriously think that would work, did you?" she asked, pushing Jack a few inches forwards.
"No, he didn't," said Fred. "He did it to get this." He held up the guard's stolen security access ID card.
Suddenly, the grates banged open, and a boy and a girl climbed out. "Hey, Fred. Jack," he said. "You get it, yeah?"" Fred nodded, holding up the card. "I'm coming, too," said the blue-haired girl, but Call shook his head. "Stay here with them, Emma. We'll be back in ten minutes, okay?"
The girl, Emma, sighed, nodding, and she sat down on a bunk.
Soon Fred, Jack, and Call were gone.

It was eleven minutes laterthat the boys came back.
"We gotta go, we gotta go," Jack said, grabbing a bed sheet and securing the door handle with it. Fred and Call were both supporting a black-haired girl who was gasping for air, her face pale and sweaty.
"Come on, come on!" Fred shouted, and Jack heaved three mattresses back into place, right in front of the door.
"Jack, Fred—what the bloody hell is going on?" Zara asked, grabbing Jack by the shoulders.
"What did you see?" George added, shoving the girl aside and getting into his face, a worried expression upon his face.
"IT'S WCKD!" roared Fred suddenly, causing the others to turn around. "It's still WCKD, it's always been WCKD."
The twenty teenagers spilled out of the air-conditioning system, panting heavily. The new girl, Rachel, was still being supported by Fred and Call. "Hang on, I need to go and do something," Call said, handing Rachel's arm to Rupert. "Right now?" demanded Fred. "Do you wanna get out of here, or not?" Call retorted.
"Do—I'll go with him!" Rupert said, handing Rachel to Brooklyn, who was burly enough to carry the girl in her arms. "Okay, Rupert, you go with him!" Jack said, and the remaining eighteen of them sprinted down the corridor, running smack dab into Doctor Crawford.
"Oh, no, not another one," she said.
Jack, the other seventeen teenagers, and Doctor Crawford had just rounded a corner, when the soldiers spotted them and began to fire. "GO!" Scarlett roared, pushing Chad and Reyna ahead of them.
Brooklyn tossed Rachel to George, who grabbed her before Fred could accidentally let her fall all the way back down to the ground. "BROOKLYN, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" roared Drew, but Brooklyn had already slammed the soldier into the wall, and was now tossing his gun to Harry, who quickly gave it to Jack.
"Shit, Mama Brook Brook," George muttered. Brooklyn flashed him a wry sort of grin before darting off after Reyna, who was shouting, "THIS WAY! COME ON! WE HAVE TO GO!"

Scarlett and Reyna both slammed the door open. For some reason, WCKD hadn't thought to take Reyna's spear away from her, and Reyna held everyone in the room at bay with that, along with Brooklyn, who had the gun now.
George rushed over to Selena, who woke up groggily when he shook her. "Come on, we need to go," he said, picking her up.
"Harry, help me!" Jack shouted, and he and Harry both picked up stools and smashed them into the window, shattering it on impact.

"Fred, Max, get Rachel out first. George, you and Selena go after them. The rest of us will be right behind you guys!" shouted Jack, and the five of them quickly hopped over the broken glass. The other thirteen teenagers raced over, barely noticing as their feet or hands were sliced open by the broken shard of glass.
"They're coming!" Drew shouted, as Felix and Rupert helped Reyna over. They barricaded the doors, and then ran after their friends.

The door was opened by an armed soldier, but Jack fired the gun, sending the soldier down to the ground, twitching in a web of electricity. Jack looked down at the gun he was holding in horror.
"Come on!" shouted Rupert, as Fred and Max ran past. George was still carrying Selena in his arms. The five of them raced down the corridor, turning left and running to the door that they had entered the facility in through.
Fred handed Rachel to Brooklyn and then swiped the card. Nothing happened. "Come on, dammit!" Fred growled.
"Jackson! Frederick!" Fred and Jack raced ahead, Reyna behind them, her spear out. "The Maze is one thing, but you wouldn't last a day out in the Scorch," Janson said. "If the elements don't kill you, then the Cranks will."
He smiled a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"We only want what's best for you."
"Yeah, lemme guess," Reyna said. "WCKD is good, huh?" She hurled her spear at the soldiers, impaling two of them against the floor. Then the door opened just as Reyna lunged to retrieve her spear, kicking and knocking out various soldiers left and right.
Jack and Fred turned and ran, getting past the door. Reyna had her bloodstained spear in her hand as she ran towards the door. "REYNA!" roared Scarlett. "COME ON!"
The eleven-year-old girl slid underneath the door just as it closed. Call raced forwards and yelled angrily, smashing the flashlight that he was holding into the access ID pad, disconnecting it from the door. Janson and his surviving security guards slammed into the door.
Jack stuck out his middle finger, flipping Janson off.
"Looks like we've got a badass in the house," Harry quipped, tossing Scarlett a supply bag and helping Max and Brooklyn carry an unconscious Rachel out of the compound.
The doors slid open, and the twenty teenagers raced out into the night, heading out into the Scorch.

"COME ON!" Selena roared from the front. She had found a hole and had jumped down into it. "Wait, Selena!"
"No!"
"Don't go down there!"
The others heard engines, and they quickly decided that the safest route would be to follow Selena was on her feet, her flashlight on.

"Come on, we've gotta go!" Jack said, Fred and Call nodding. Rachel stirred, waking up.

"Come on, Jack," Scarlett said, shaking him by the shoulders. "What the hell is going on here? Fred? Call?"
She gestured to Rachel, who was kneeling, vomiting. "And who the hell is she?"
This last question was directed more towards Jack, who looked red. "Fred brought her with."
"We couldn't just leave her there!" Fred protested. "I know," Jack said, turning towards his friend.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said George.
"Start from the beginning," Zara added, folding her arms. Rachel vomited one last time, and then stood up, wiping her mouth.
"Call, Fred, and I, we got into this room, and there were bodies hung up all over the place," Jack said. Call took over from there.
"Dead bodies?" asked George, frowning.
"No," Call said. "But they weren't alive, either."
"There's something inside of us that WCKD wants. I'm not sure what exactly it is, but it's probably this blue fluid that they were draining the kids of," Fred finished. He helped Rachel up, and she rested her head on his shoulder. Apparently the two were close, even though they'd met less than an hour ago. Fred put his arm around Rachel's shoulder.

"And where does Rachel come into this?" Scarlett asked, frowning.
"She wasn't hooked up for some reason," said Jack, grimacing. "In fact, her tubes were laying on the floor, and her stand had a label on it."
"What did it say?" asked Harry.

"'Rachel. Group B. To be terminated,'" said Fred, wrapping an arm around Rachel and squeezing her shoulder.
"Well, nothing good is gonna come from staying close to WCKD," said George, frowning. He looked at Selena, who was scratching the back of her neck with one hand, looking nervous.
"Come on," said Zara, sighing. "Jack, Fred, Call—what's the plan? There's twenty of us right now, but that could all change if WCKD gets a hold of our location again."
"There's a group in the mountains," said Call. "They're called the Right Arm. If we can get to them, we can make it out of the Scorch, and possibly out of WCKD's sight."
"Then that's our plan," said Jack. "We're going to the Right Arm. Come on, let's get going."

Rupert had found something.
"Hey, come and take a look at this," he was saying when Jack and Brooklyn walked up to him,
Rachel, and Chad.
"Look," said Rupert, tapping a picture. He peeled off the picture and revealed a metal pad. "They had power," he said. "Whoever lived in this place, they had power, I think."
"Come on, split up and gather supplies," Jack ordered. Everyone split up, taking separate routes.
Scarlett was handing Emma a shirt when Jack and Brooklyn came running around the corner, waving their arms wildly and shouting. "RUN!" Jack shouted, racing past Chad and Harry, who saw what they were running from and bolted, too.
"What the hell?" muttered Emma, backing up when she saw the horde of erratically moving figures chasing the boys.
"RUN!" Scarlett roared, realizing what these were. The twenty teenagers ran forwards, running from the Cranks. Scarlett passed Sam; she saw him trip and stumble. She turned around just at the Cranks grabbed at his feet, dragging him back.
"SCARLETT!" he screamed, and Scarlett grabbed his hands, pulling him. There was an almighty scream, and then Sam disappeared into the crowd of Cranks. "Scarlett, come on!" yelled Emma, pulling a horrified Scarlett after her.
Chad was at the front of the group. Harry was at the corner of the stairs. "Come on, go, go!" he yelled. Once Drew passed him, along with Scarlett and Emma, he made to go after them, but a Crank ran up and grabbed him around the shoulders, shaking him.

"HELP!" screamed Harry, as the Crank dragged him off. The Crank stumbled, breaking the glass and causing Harry to dangle over the side. "DREW!" he yelled. A second Crank lunged through the glass opposite him, and the combined weight of the two Cranks pulled Harry downwards.
"RUN!" Emma yelled, tugging on Drew's arm.
"Come on, where do we go!?" Rupert yelled from the front of the group. Chad stopped and backed up. "Back, back!" he yelled, as another horde of Cranks came running at them. "Left, this way!" Emma yelled, turning into a dark corridor that led downwards.
Felix and Sammy ran after the others, but were knocked backwards as a Crank lunged out of the darkness. The Cranks converged on them.
"HELP ME!" Sammy screamed.
Scarlett stared, horrified, listening to their screams until they stopped all of the sudden.

They had just lost four people in less than five minutes, and they were probably going to all die if they didn't get out of there soon.
Jack was at a door; Rupert was making sure everyone got outside safely. He was holding a gun, firing at the Cranks and dropping them like flies.
Rupert was the last to go through the door, and a Crank grabbed at his foot, dragging him back. The Cranks seized him around the stomach, and they began to pull him back, their hands digging into his stomach. "RUPERT!" Drew screamed, grabbing at him. The rest of them grabbed at various points of Rupert's body, tugging and pulling against the Cranks that were shrieking behind the partially-closed door. Jack grabbed the gun and fired, scattering the Cranks.

Max grabbed a gun off of the floor, and stood his ground as the Cranks pounded against the closed door. "I'll hold them off!" he shouted over his shoulder, holding his weapon out in front of him.
"What?" Jack shouted, shaking his head. "We all need to go; we've lost too many people already! You won't make it!"

"I know."

Max smiled grimly and sadly at Jack, and he unclasped a ring from around his hand. "Take it," he said, tossing it to Jack. Jack stared at him, and the door began to give way. "GO!" Max roared, and the remaining survivors ran.
Scarlett turned to look over her shoulder just before she turned the corner. Max roared in determination, and the Cranks swallowed him.

Rachel and George were both supporting Rupert, who was dripping blood everywhere. "Come on, under here!" hissed Jack, ushering the survivors underneath a bridge. Rupert bit his lip; Scarlett ripped off her shirt and stuffed it into his mouth to keep him from screaming.

Chapter Two

Jack

Jack woke up to find Brooklyn shooing away a bird. They had escaped the building later the night before, and had taken shelter underneath the wreckage of a broken building. Jack's stomach turned over as he remembered everyone who had died last night.
He did a quick head count. They were missing Sam, Harry, Felix, Sammy, and Max. Max's sacrifice came back to him, overwhelming him with guilt.
Everyone was stirring next to Jack and Brooklyn; soon, they were all ready. "You good, Rupert?" asked Drew, helping Rupert up, who was having a bit of trouble standing. Rupert grunted in pain, and the group finally got moving again. The surviving fifteen teenagers—they had lost five last night to the Cranks—moved across the wreckage of the old, abandoned city.
Jack frowned, hearing something in the distance. His eyes widened when he realized just exactly what it was. "Everybody, hide!" he yelled. The group looked up fearfully at the sky. "Shit! Where?"
The group regrouped underneath an old, collapsed bridge, like they had the night before. They watched for signs of WCKD.
And sure enough, they found one.
A Berg—was that what Janson had called the huge flying ships?—was making its way slowly across the sky, as if searching for something…

Searching for us, Jack realized with a pang of fear.

Luckily, the Berg's pilots didn't seem to see them, so they were in the clear when the Berg passed.

The group quickly hurried out from underneath the bridge, and they began to climb the pile of debris. Once they made it to the top, Jack spotted their goal in the distance.
"There," he said. "The mountains. We can hide out there."
"That's a long way off," said Zara.
"Then we'd better get moving," said George.
Rupert unslung his backpack from around his neck and shoulders and took a step forwards, only to collapse.
"Rupert!" Jack cried, lunging after the boy as he tumbled down the sand dune. "Hey, Rupert!" Drew was teary-eyed when they reached him. She cupped his face in her hands and looked at his sandy, windblown face.

Rupert was gasping for breath, his chest heaving rapidly. "Quickly, make a stretcher for him," Jack ordered, taking out some supplies to help with.
Once they had reached a point of shelter, they stopped to take a rest. Jack saw that Scarlett was still wearing only her sports bra. This time, however, Scarlett seemed unashamed of what had happened. The shirt had been left behind in the haste to escape the Cranks, and no one else had thought to grab extra clothes when they had been foraging for supplies.
Jack stood out on the edge of the sand, studying the sea of sand. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out from behind him. He whirled around, finding everyone in confused chaos.
"What the hell just happened?" Jack demanded. Rupert was on his hands and knees, and he was breathing hard.
"I don't know, he woke up and just went for the gun and tried to—!" began Drew, holding up the gun.

"Give me that…" croaked Rupert, reaching out for the gun, but then he retched, coughing up blackened saliva. Jack gasped, remembering what the Cranks from last night had been coughing up when he and Brooklyn had first run into them.

Jack watched in horror, as Rupert turned over onto his back and rolled up his shirt. His skin, instead of showing the beginning of a healed wound, was a roiling, writhing mass of black and pink flesh. "I'm turning into…" Rupert coughed up more blackened saliva. "…into one of them."
Drew was the most affected by this. "Please," said Rupert, reaching out towards her. "Don't let me turn into one of those…those things."
He coughed again, turning his head to the side and spitting out the saliva into the sand. George stepped forwards, taking the gun from a crying Drew. Tears streamed down the girls' face as she stared down at her doomed boyfriend. "George," Jack said, but George had already knelt down and given the gun to Rupert.
"George," Rupert rasped, smiling slightly. "Thank you."
Rupert coughed again, this time not bothering to stop the saliva from dribbling down his chin. "Now go…"
George nodded, and he and the others started to trickle out after paying their last respects to Rupert. Soon it was just Brooklyn, Jack, Selena, and Drew standing there. Selena looked at Jack, and then turned and picked up her backpack and Rupert's, and went after the others. Brooklyn knelt down and put her hand on Rupert's chest.
"See you on the other side, you ugly shack," Rupert croaked, cracking a small sort of grin despite his situation. "Back at you, you junk-faced moron," murmured Brooklyn. Then, in a rare show of affection, she leaned down and kissed Rupert on the forehead. Then she grabbed her own backpack and left.

Drew shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "I love…you," Rupert croaked, love twinkling in his eyes. "I'll be waiting for you…on the other side."
Drew nodded, grabbed her backpack, and turned to leave. Jack stared down at his friend. "I'm—I'm sorry," he said.
"It's okay," said Rupert, as Jack turned to leave, picking up his backpack.
"Jack."
Jack turned back around to find Rupert smiling slightly.
"Take care of them," he said. "They need you."
Jack nodded, smiling sadly. "See you on the other side, Rupert," he said. "I cross my heart." Rupert gave a small, rasping cough of a laugh and smiled again. "Goodbye, Jackson."
"Goodbye, Rupert."
Jack had just joined the line that was traveling down the slope and was walking to catch up to Drew, who was furiously wiping tears out of her eyes, when he heard the gunshot crack throughout the sky.
The entire line stopped, all of them in a moment of silence for the brave warrior that they had just lost.

Then they continued on.

Jack and the others sat around a campfire, staring into the flames.
"I thought we were supposed to be Immune," Jack said finally.
"Not all of us, apparently," George said sadly.
"I never thought I'd say this, but…" Drew trailed off, her eyes red and puffy. "I miss the Field."
"Me, too," muttered Brooklyn.
Jack had suspected that for a time, Brooklyn had had a crush on Rupert. And now she had lost him. Brooklyn seemed angry; her eyes flickered in the firelight, and she tossed a knife from hand to hand.
"Man, I wish Ben were here," Scarlett said, finally. Out of all of them, she was the coldest, having lost her shirt the night before. She wrapped her arms around herself, and shivered. Jack scooted closer to her, and he wrapped the cloak that he was wearing around both of them. Scarlett murmured something in thanks, resting her head on Jack's shoulder. Drew stared at the two of them, and then at Selena and George; Selena was sleeping with her head in George's lap, and was holding one of his hands in hers. Meanwhile, Rachel and Fred were sleeping, Fred with an arm over Rachel. Drew sighed, sniffling softly, and then lay down to get some sleep.

Jack sighed, then put an arm around Scarlett. "Let's get some sleep," he told everyone. "The more rest we get, the better."
The next day, the fourteen survivors got up and packed up, extinguishing the fire. "Come on, I see something up ahead," said George, who was at the front of the group. He pointed into the distance, where there was a large sort of wall running out on either side of the horizon. Chad was lagging behind the others; he seemed especially saddened ever since Sam had died two nights ago.
Jack pointed this out to Drew, who shrugged, mumbling, "I don't blame him. He probably lost a lot of other people back in the Labyrinth, and now he's lost his last and only friend. Just like I lost Rupert." She wiped a tear out of her eye and moved forwards, sand shifting underneath her feet.
Jack sighed, turning around and heading back towards Chad. "You good, man?" he asked. Chad looked over at the leader of the group of teens. "Yeah," he said. "I'm–I'm fine." He faltered, squinting. "You should be more worried about Scarlett or Drew," he added, frowning. "Drew just lost her boyfriend, and Scarlett's still got just a sports bra on."
"Oh, yeah," Jack remembered. "Well, I just talked to Drew, and she seems fine, but about Scarlett…it must be giving her sunburn, being exposed like this."
Emma was behind Jack and Chad; she was the only one of the group who was behind Chad. She suddenly collapsed. Jack heard her rolling back down the sand dune, and he yelled. "EMMA!" he roared, and he and Chad hurried back after her. Emma was at the bottom of the dune; Jack saw her struggle to get up, but then fail to rise.
"What's wrong?" asked George, joining the pair. "She just collapsed," Chad said. "I don't know what's wrong."
Emma's eyes were closed, and she was gasping for breath. Scarlett pried open one of her eyes. "Her pupils are dilated. Jess, we need your medical skills over here," she said, beckoning Jess over. Jess, who had brought plenty of medical supplies from the building with her, hurried over and dropped down in front of the group. Jack frowned as she began to tend to Emma. Emma's eyes eventually fluttered open. "You're dehydrated," Jess said. "Your water bottle's empty; you should be drinking regularly. Why–?"
Suddenly, the sky darkened. Everyone looked up–and screamed, as a bolt of lightning arced across the sky. "Get up, get up, get up!" screamed Reyna, and she tugged at Jess's arm. "Rachel, go!" Fred yelled. Rachel nodded, then grabbed Reyna and pulled the girl after her. "Chad, you're in charge!" Jack said. "Brooklyn, Scarlett, and Jess, stay with me!"
The rest of the group ran towards the horizon, where the wall was only a mile or so away. "Come on, help me get her up," Jack said, and he and Scarlett heaved Emma up to her feet. Call, disobeying orders, had remained behind, and he grabbed Emma's legs, helping the other two. "Jess, Brooklyn, come on!" The two girls were staring out at the crackling sky, lightning slamming into the ground all around them. The others had disappeared in a haze of rain now. The five of them raced as fast as they could; Emma suddenly got a burst of adrenaline and she dropped to the ground, racing far ahead of the others. Jack and Jess looked at each other, and then they put on another burst of speed, racing ahead of the others.
"Come on!" Brooklyn yelled. "We're almost there!"
Jack heard a scream from behind him; he whirled around, only yards away from the entrance, where Chad was ushering the others inside. Brooklyn was on the ground, next to Scarlett. Scarlett's arm had been thrown out to one side and her eyes were closed. Smoke rose from her body, and Brooklyn was yelling.
"Come on, Scarlett!" she was screaming. "Get up! Get up!"
Jack's heart stopped. He felt Jess and Emma pass by him, and all the world slowed down. Then he broke into a run. "Brooklyn, go! I've got her!" Jack shouted. Brooklyn nodded, and then turned and ran after Jess and Emma.
Scarlett's entire body was smoking; her jeans were burned off below the knee. She groaned in pain as Jack picked her up and turned back around, looking at the figures of his friends, who were in the entrance of the partially-collapsed building. Jack broke into a sprint, charging after the others, and he felt a bolt of lightning pass directly over his head.
"COME ON!" bellowed George, who was at the front of the group. Jess had tears streaming down her face. "COME ON, BROTHER! YOU CAN DO IT!"
And then Jack was inside, and the other twelve were helping him set Scarlett onto the ground. Jack's hands grabbed her face, and he shook her frantically. Then he put his ear up to her heart.
It had stopped.
Then it started beating, when Jack gave her mouth-to-mouth. Scarlett's eyes flew open, and for a brief second, they glowed blue. Then they faded back to their normal color. The girl sat up, groaning and putting her hand to her head. Before she could speak, Jack kissed her. The others gave a sharp intake of breath, and then exhaled as Jack pulled away.
"What–what was that for?" Scarlett asked, gasping for breath. She was red in the face, but was grinning slightly nonetheless. "Your heart," Jack gasped, tears welling up in his eyes. He hugged Scarlett, feeling her bare shoulders brush against his. She wrapped her arms around him, and squeezed tightly, embracing him warmly. Jess joined them. "You scared me," she murmured. "Both of you."
"What's that smell?" Reyna asked, as the three of them got up. She took a step forwards, then screamed as a Crank launched itself out of the darkness and landed on top of her, clawing at her face. Jack yelled, pulling Scarlett behind him. Fred roared angrily, and he stabbed the Crank with a knife. Blood spurted out of the creature's back, and it coughed up blackened saliva into Reyna's face. She pushed the figure off of her and scrambled to her face, wiping her face off. "What the fu–?!" she began, but then two more Cranks lunged out into the open.
"Back!" Scarlett yelled, punching the Crank in the face. There was a loud, sonic BOOM, and the Crank exploded into dust. Scarlett looked at her hands, which were crackling with electricity. She then stared up at the horde of Cranks, which was edging away from her, looking very scared. Jack felt a static POP crackle through the air. Scarlett turned towards the others.
"What the hell just happened?" Zara asked, frowning. "I think–I think that lightning strike just gave Scarlett…superpowers," Call said, frowning. "Come on, if they're afraid of her, then we're fine for now. Let's go."
Suddenly, outside, they heard a familiar, mechanical sort of roar. Jack stiffened. He gripped his knife, and Fred pushed Rachel and Reyna behind himself. "Grievers," Jack muttered. "But aren't they supposed to be native only to the Maze?" Emma asked, standing up.

The Griever banged against the door, shrieking as it scented the Cranks and the fourteen teenagers. Jack edged forwards, brandishing his knife. Then the Griever broke inside, and all hell broke loose.

Chapter Three

Jack ducked as the Griever's tail came swinging over his head. He pulled Reyna and George down with him, then hurled his knife at a lunging Crank. The Crank's head snapped back as the blade lodged in its forehead, and Jack grimaced as the head made a cracking sound as it hit the floor. He retrieved the knife and herded George, Reyna, and Scarlett into the building, dodging Cranks and the Griever.
Zara was yelling, Chad appeared out of nowhere, a bloody gash ripped along his chest, and